Spinach, Fresh From The Garden, Much Tastier Than Popeye's Canned Diet

IN THE GARDEN

February 16, 2002|By ERWIN GOLDSTEIN

The National Garden Bureau is celebrating 2002 as the Year of the Spinach. The bureau honors a different vegetable and flower yearly, sending us information concerning them. Why do I bother with this public relations gimmick? I do it because the bureau's information is darned interesting and useful. The bureau is also honoring the Vinca, so we'll explore this fine ornamental plant in my next column.

I grew up hating spinach, and I dislike canned spinach to this day. But that fresh from the garden plant I grow is another matter. Fresh spinach, harvested frequently, and carried quickly from garden to kitchen is tasty. And of course it's good for us. I've known this since I was a child. Popeye told me. Lots of vitamin A and C, plus thiamin, folic acid, potassium and some iron.

Humans began eating spinach long before Popeye came along. In fact, we've been eating it so long that science isn't certain of its origin. But it apparently began somewhere in Asia. Spinach made its way to Europe during the 15th century. American gardeners were growing it by the early 1800s. And, if you're into trivia, the scientific name of spinach is spinacia oleracea. Spinacia comes from the Latin word for spine, and refers to its prickly seed coat. Oleracea, the species name, refers to an edible plant.

There are two kinds of spinach. Smooth-leaf spinach produces oblong leaves that vary in color from light to dark. Savoy spinach has leaves that are thicker, rounder and crinkled. I use these practices to extend productivity of my spinach. I'll start an early crop indoors about March 20, for transplanting outside around April 10 to 15. I'll sow a second crop outdoors about April 10 and a third about 10 days later. Then I simply harvest individual leaves through April and May into early June, as they reach eating size. Individual plants are uprooted and eaten only to thin my crop. Seed stalks are eliminated immediately, when seen. Thus spinach energy isn't lost to seed-making. The crop gets lots of water during dry spells and as days get warmer. Eventually entire plants are harvested when heat comes on and it's obvious the crop is about to pass from maturity to overmaturity.

Many of us want to grow some edibles but lack space for a vegetable garden. If your landscape has this problem, consider some spinach transplants for growth among your pansies, bulbs or other bedding plants. Also, spinach makes a good container plant.

Then, from mid-August into mid-September fall crops can be planted. I feast on spinach into and often through November. Covering the bed on cold nights facilitates this.

Sowing that first batch of seeds indoors, using peat pots is helpful. But make a drainage hole in the pot bottom. Then, at transplanting time, set the entire pot to the soil without removing the plant. Always harden plants by gradually exposing them to the outdoors before transplanting. This is true of all species, not just spinach. Space transplants about 8 inches apart and remember to cover the top of those peat pot rims with soil and perhaps a bit of mulch. Otherwise, excessive water evaporates from the pot and the plant may die.

Prepare the spinach bed to a depth of 8 inches. Mix in compost and perhaps a bit of lime. Spinach dislikes strongly acid soil. It needs a pH range between 6.5 to 7.5. A pH below 6 isn't good. Light or sandy soil is strongly preferred. Three or four small crops planted a week to 10 days apart extend our harvest far better than one big planting. Sow in rows set 12 to 16 inches apart. A light side dressing of 10-10-10 or similar fertilizer when the plants are fairly well begun aids growth. Spinach has shallow roots. Remember this when cultivating. And control those weeds, or failure awaits.

Spinach tastes great but soil doesn't. So rinse leaves well after harvesting. Ethylene gas given off by fruits, melons or tomatoes can turn stored spinach yellow. Bear this in mind when refrigerating.

Spinach is a cinch to freeze. But blanching in boiling water destroys vitamins. So just rinse the leaves, set them in a resealable plastic bag and blanch in the microwave for one minute. Then freeze.